My CISSP Journey with Simplilearn: Daniel Navarro Morende

With a CISSP certification, Daniel Morende finally achieved his childhood dream of being an information vigilante, safeguarding data from theft and protecting IT systems from cyber-attack!

Daniel had always been a curious child – curious about everything. Unlike many others his age, Daniel was fascinated by computers. While others went out to play, Daniel would stay back at school to explore the mysterious world of bits and bytes, listening in on the communication between one machine and another and studying computer networks.

Daniel had found his calling way back then!

But when a virus attack out of the blue corrupted his system, causing him to lose years of painstaking work, Daniel resolved to never fall prey to malware. He wanted to make sure people felt secure about systems. And he wanted to feel secure.

Over the years, as he ventured into the professional world, one dream was realized, the other was still “work-in-progress”. Armed with degrees in computer science, Daniel carved for himself a niche in the IT Service industry, designing IT infrastructure for organizations. But he couldn’t find a way to fulfill his IT security aspirations. It was too late to go back to college – he had to find another way.

A professional CISSP certification from Simplilearn proved to be the way out.

Today, armed with his security credentials, Daniel has been able to better counter threats to data integrity on his projects, and is now finally the all-round IT vanguard he saw himself as.

Read on to find out how he achieved it!

1. What inspired you to get into the IT industry?

As a child, I wasn’t one for the outdoors. Computers fascinated me, and I’d often sit at home on my personal system 24/7, learning. Networks and IT systems enthralled me. I’d go exploring into server rooms to see how things were connected. I was always ahead of others in my computer class, and would quickly move on from the basics to more advanced topics, every year.

I informed my parents, and the CPU was thereafter handed over to a technician for repair.

When it returned, a week later, I was told that a virus had infiltrated my system. My data could not be revived. All of my homework, projects, everything, just gone. Poof! Because of this…virus. I wondered what this was before I was informed that this was malicious code that spread from system to system.

Back then, I knew little about the subject. *laughs*

After this, I spent a significant portion of my time researching how computer users and IT admins could safeguard information on such large, complex networks from vulnerability-exploits and virus attacks. I wanted to be one myself, devising networks that were not only efficient and helped users make the best of the devices available to them, but would also protect them from attacks and threats.

And that’s how it all began!

2. What is the current role you play in Grupo Panpharma?

At Grupo Panpharma, Brazil, which is a global pharmaceutical company, I work as the IT Governance team lead. My responsibility is to constantly and continuously monitor and evaluate the IT standards and compliance that is used in the directorate along with participating in the development/revision of the IT Governance policies and procedures. With 13 years of experience, I’ve led projects that involve Governance, Risk, Compliance, and Information Security for multinational companies of diverse markets.

3. Why did you choose to take up a professional certification?

4. How was the Simplilearn experience and how did the certification help?

It was interesting. I liked the fact that I could attend online classrooms on the move, wherever I was. Most of my learning happened on the commute to and from work.

I think the biggest advantage of getting the CISSP certification has been the awareness factor. During my training, I learnt things that I only had a rudimentary grasp of.

7. Any advice for fellow aspirants?

Nothing is ever enough. The more you learn, the better it gets. No matter how old you are, where you live, what your background is – never give up on your dream. Strive for more! The more you know, the more you are valued. So get out there, and get certified!

About the Author

With 13 years of experience in the IT industry and a certification in CISSP, Daniel Morende is working as the Head of IT Governance at Grupo Panpharma. He is adept at dealing with Information Security threats across sectors.